Electro-optical storage devices (optical discs) include compact discs for music and computer applications, video laser discs, CDE discs and DVD discs. They generally comprise of a plastic or glass substrate embossed with a pattern of pits that encode signals in digital format and are typically coated with a metallic layer to enhance reflectivity. They are usually read in a drive that spins the devices at high speeds while employing a focused laser beam and monitoring fluctuations of the reflected intensity in order to detect the pits.
In recent years, writeable optical discs have grown in consumer popularity. However, there is no apparent visual method for determining their contents. Therefore, an increasing need to label these optical discs exist.
Labeling optical discs, however, is complicated by the fact that the capability of the optical disc to accurately represent and store data is dependent on its ability to be placed into a high speed, steady-state spin about its central axis. Thus, a label positioned in a manner that results in a physically unbalanced optical disc is not conducive with the accurate transfer of information.
Consequently, a need exists for a mechanism that can label an optical disc without interfering with the balanced spinning of the disc or the transfer of data to and from the optical disc.